These are the thoughts and observations of me — a woman of a certain age (56). I'm single. I'm successful enough (independent, self supporting). I live in the burbs and work in the city (Chicago, the best city in the world). I'm an aunt, a friend and a colleague. I feel that voices like mine are rather underrepresented online or in print. So here I am. If my musings resonate with you, please visit my blog again sometime.

Sunday, March 03, 2013

Sunday Stealing

101.
What does happiness/joy feel like physically? There's a lightness to it as tension melts to make way for euphoria.

102. List five things you love starting with the one you love the absolute
most.

A Books

B Cats

C Cubs-- Opening Day at Wrigley Field is Monday, April 8!

D Movies

E Alone time

103. How many movies have you gone to see this year? So far in 2013 I think I've only seen three, but they have been stellar: Les Miz, Silver Linings Playbook and Amour

104. If you could have 3 wishes...but none of them could be for yourself, what
would you wish for? This Recession has been brutal for many around me, so: 1) A job for my best friend; 2) A job for my former boss; 3) A financial windfall for my underemployed friend in the Keys

105. In what ways do you relax and de-stress when you are really tense? Cardio helps, if I can get off my fat ass and get to the club. I've been napping a lot. I have been known to turn to vodka (year round) or Bailey's Irish Creme (winter/spring).

106. How much money would it take to get you to sell your blog address? It would depend on who wants it and why.

107. Have you ever been hunting?NO!
108. Have you attempted this 5000 question meme in the past? Only if it was part of a previous Sunday Stealing.

109. What do you think of cloning? I don't. I mean, it's not a subject that interests me much. Like life on other planets, it only comes to mind when I'm asked about it in memes.

110. Do you read or watch TV more often? Yes. It seems I'm always doing one, the other, or both.

111. With all this talk of terrorism going around are you willing to sacrifice
rights and freedoms for increased safety? No. If we give up our rights and freedoms we become like those who try to defeat us. Of course, I don't think it's a right to board a plane or enter a skyscraper without going through security.

112. What is the punishment you would come up with for Osama Bin Laden if you
caught him alive? Trial and imprisonment. People I respect have pointed out that my way would give him a platform (at a trial, he'd have the right to testify and then he could give jailhouse interviews a la Charles Manson). So maybe his ugly story ended the only way it could. Still, there is no way I'm going to applaud the murder of another human being -- regardless of who that person is. I can accept that it may have been a necessity but I refuse to cheer it. That goes against Christian teachings and I simply won't do it.

113. Have you ever named an individual part of your body? No

114. Have you ever been on the radio or on TV? Election night 1992, Bill Clinton's Chicago campaign headquarters on Michigan Avenue. The local ABC affiliate showed campaign workers viewing his acceptance speech, and I was in the front row because I'm so short. My mom saw me.

115. Have you ever won a lottery, or sweepstakes? More than 20 years ago I won $6,000 in the Illinois State Lottery. I was excited about the $6,000 for getting 4 of the 5 numbers, till my boyfriend pointed out I was 1 digit away from $2 million.

116. Have you ever won a contest or competition? In third grade I won an essay writing contest sponsored by the local newspaper.

118. Do you know what your grandparents and your great grand parents did for a
living? My grandfathers worked together twice -- first doing construction on a WPA (Works Progress Administration) Project during the Depression, and then at a factory that made train engines. It was a small town so obviously they knew each other, but they had nothing to do with my parents getting together. (My mom and dad met at a party.) My maternal grandmother worked in the office at that same plant for a while, then had a number of retail jobs. My dad's mom worked but as a volunteer at church and the Girl Scouts. She was tireless and even though she wasn't paid, she worked hard and made very valuable contributions.

119. Is there anything really interesting in your family history? My grandfather vs the Nazis. Grandpa left Germany, alone, right before Hitler began his reign of terror. While he was penniless here, he came from money -- his father (my great grandfather) was a wealthy orchestra conductor. My grandpa had a really awful falling out with his parents (he refused to talk about it to anyone but my grandmother, who honored his request and kept his secret), never corresponded with them and certainly never asked them for money, even during the Depression while he was working so hard to care for his family.

Anyway, my great grandparents died together in a car accident and left their fortune to their only child, my grandfather. The catch: he would have to go to Munich to claim the money. By now the Germans had invaded Prague so the war was beginning, even though America wasn't yet in it. Our government advised my grandfather not to make the trip because the Nazis would likely not acknowledge his American citizenship and draft him. So my grandfather had to pass on the money, which was then lost to him forever, even though he suffered many sleepless nights about how he was going to feed his kids.

Usually a very happy man, Grandpa's mood got very dark whenever I asked him about his parents and Germany. "What difference does it make?" he'd ask. "We're here now." There was no one more patriotic about the United States than my grandpa. He always self-identified as American. Not "German-American." Just American. He had no use for his homeland.